General – NicheLabs, LLChttps://www.nichelabs.com
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1 What is Bounce Rate?https://www.nichelabs.com/general/what-is-bounce-rate/
Sun, 12 Aug 2018 10:00:39 +0000https://www.nichelabs.com/?p=3064At NicheLabs, we recognize that our clients are not typically coders, developers, or web-marketing experts. So, why would we expect them to decipher the list of jargon needed to measure the results of our marketing efforts? One of the most important pieces of information that we relay to each of our Search Engine Optimization clients […]

At NicheLabs, we recognize that our clients are not typically coders, developers, or web-marketing experts. So, why would we expect them to decipher the list of jargon needed to measure the results of our marketing efforts?

One of the most important pieces of information that we relay to each of our Search Engine Optimization clients in their monthly Search Engine Marketing reports is bounce rate. Luckily, it is easy to understand where this term gets its name. Think of a very fuzzy tennis ball; Stay with me, now…what happens when you throw a very fuzzy tennis ball at a smooth, flat wall?

Yes, it bounces right off and heads in a different direction. But, if that wall were covered in Velcro, it would stick around a while. The fuzzy tennis ball is your visitor, ready to be served, wanting to find something that makes them stick around, interact, and become a real prospect. The hooks and loops are the reasons that you give the visitor to stick around and explore, and ultimately engage (click to learn more, fill out a contact form, click to call your number, etc.).

We will keep this explanation of bounce rate as high-level as we can, because our goal is a clear understanding among our own audience; But, it is important to note that bounce rate is often over-simplified. This often happens when tech companies have the intent of making terms easily-digestible by the general public. Unfortunately, this perfectly honorable intention makes it common to find misleading definitions on the web.

Google Analytics defines Bounce Rate as “single-page sessions divided by all sessions, or the percentage of all sessions on your site in which users viewed only a single page and triggered only a single request to the Analytics server.” The reality here is that the calculations that yield bounce rate can have more or different factors that just page views.

According to Analytics NINJA, “a bounce is a visit with a single engagement hit.” So, let’s change out “single-page sessions” with “single-interactions” in the Google Analytics definition to get a more accurate vision. But, this still doesn’t tell the whole story…

Again, “hits” can include more than page views, such as:

Ecommerce Items and Transactions

Social Interactions

Events

User Defined

These items can affect the calculations that factor into bounce rate. Though, some of these items like Social Media or Events can be set to not affect bounce rate. If this is the case, multiple actions may have occurred, but some not factored. So, the easiest way to think of bounce rate, is a single interaction before leaving the page, unless you have some “hit factors” set to “non-interaction.” When there is no next interaction after landing on the page, or the interactions that take place are set to “non-interaction,” Google Analytics cannot calculate the amount of time the visitor spent there. So, a bounce is tracked as 0 seconds spent on the initial page reached by the user.

According to RocketFuel a proper gauge of bounce rates looks like this:

Excellent: 26-40%

Average: 56-70%

Poor: Over 70%

Keep in mind that some pages are expected to have a high bounce rate; Sites that only function as blogs, news, and events pages are likely to have high bounce rates because they may not call for a secondary action (Think of clicking on a link, reading an article, and leaving the page). However, a high bounce rate on an ecommerce site with pages to shop around on, would typically be a sign that the traffic being sent there is largely not getting what they were hoping for.

Also keep in mind that websites with a high percentage of mobile traffic will often have a higher bounce rate, due to the nature of mobile interactions. Let’s use an ecommerce site as the example again. Many of us do a bit of product research on our mobile device, as soon as we think of something we need, only to leave the site, and return later to dig deeper, click through the pages, and make a transaction on our desktop.

It’s important to understand what ground-level looks like for you, rather than comparing your site to a set of “standard ranges”. As long as the user’s needs are being met, your site is working for you. Bounce rate is intended to measure the initial impression made on your visitor, but it is not the only factor, and its implications will vary from site-to-site.

Because bounce rate is contextual, we often must help our clients obtain a baseline, or “benchmark” to get an idea of their current website performance. NicheLabs would be happy to help you identify your benchmark and set reasonable goals based on the unique factors surrounding your business and industry. Call us at 888-978-9254 or send a request for contact here to see how your website is performing today.

]]>Google Home Updated Guidelines; Enhance Your Recipes With Voice Commandshttps://www.nichelabs.com/general/google-home-updated-guidelines-enhance-your-recipes-with-voice-commands/
Thu, 02 Aug 2018 16:08:01 +0000https://www.nichelabs.com/?p=3043 Google freed home chefs from using their sticky fingers to double-check how many tablespoons of butter that recipe called for (AGAIN) when they launched Google Home last year. Saving our mobile devices from smudges of all flavors, Google Home is a brand of smart speakers that allows users to speak voice commands and provides […]

Google freed home chefs from using their sticky fingers to double-check how many tablespoons of butter that recipe called for (AGAIN) when they launched Google Home last year. Saving our mobile devices from smudges of all flavors, Google Home is a brand of smart speakers that allows users to speak voice commands and provides step-by-step instructions on how to execute a recipe using Google Search and Google Assistant.

Google recently announced that they have updated the service with new guidelines to ensure that the published recipes can provide the voice-guided option. The updates will also provide users with more information about their recipes. This will result in more visitors that are looking for exactly what the author has to offer and may get them viewers from additional sources through Google Assistant.

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To do this, Google asks that the author provide more details about their recipes. Make it easy by answering these questions:

How can this recipe be described?

By the season they are appropriate for (“winter dish” “summer dish”)

By a special event that they would be great for (“baby shower” cupcakes)

By an associated Holiday (“Fourth of July” BBQ Ribs)

By any other descriptors (“week-night”, “traditional”)

Enter new terms in the “keywords” section:

What Meal is this recipe ideal for? (“snack”, “dessert”)

Enter in the “recipeCategory” section.

What kind of regional cuisine is it? (“Italian”, “American”)

Enter in the “recipeCuisine” section.

Add videos to SHOW viewers how to make the dish.

Enter in the “video” section.

Google also added more instruction for the “recipeInstructions” field. Authors can seek guidance from “HowToStep” and “HowToSection” to better explain the execution of their recipe.

Google Assistant now requires each recipe to have the “recipeIngredient” and “recipeInstructions” fields filled in order to use it with Google Home. Without this information, recipes will still appear in search results but will not be able to use guidance from Google Assistant.

Brought to you by NicheLabs. Did this remind you of something your business needs? Let us know how we can help by calling 888-978-9254 or contact us here.

]]>New Mouth-Watering Website Makes Ordering as Smooth as Mama’s Red Velvet; A Small Business Revampedhttps://www.nichelabs.com/general/new-mouth-watering-website-makes-ordering-as-smooth-as-mamas-red-velvet-a-small-business-revamped/
Thu, 19 Jul 2018 16:00:18 +0000https://www.nichelabs.com/?p=3013Whether you consider yourself a walking sweet-tooth or not, lay eyes on the “fresh goodness” baked by Red Velvet Mama, and you will be INSPIRED…because “Life is Too Sweet!” This doctor turned baker is an expert in comfort whether in the form of flour, sugar, and butter, or sweet words of advice. Doctor Teresa Horne, […]

Whether you consider yourself a walking sweet-tooth or not, lay eyes on the “fresh goodness” baked by Red Velvet Mama, and you will be INSPIRED…because “Life is Too Sweet!”

This doctor turned baker is an expert in comfort whether in the form of flour, sugar, and butter, or sweet words of advice. Doctor Teresa Horne, Ayers (Red Velvet Mama) took a detour from her career in education and counseling to follow her passion as a Life Liberation Coach. Inspiration to bake (fueled by her daughter) fermented during this journey and rose to perfection when she opened her Red Velvet Mama bakery in Lithonia, GA in 2013.

Teresa’s rosy disposition makes her famous confections even sweeter. Her cakes, whoopie pies, cupcakes, and “Mama OMG Jars” are often paired with an inspirational tip (or two) to help her customers “live their best lives.”

When NicheLabs met Red Velvet Mama, this “Best of Atlanta Desserts” award-winner had a website that was working against her. Her ordering system consisted of manual ordering and invoices. She wanted the customer’s ordering experience to be more automated and eliminate the possibility of one big issue they were facing; orders being placed but not received. Part of the fun in eating sweets is how pretty they look before we devour them; Any baker’s website should look as tempting as its product. Its stale appearance begged for NicheLabs to lay the icing on thick.

A complete redesign and rebuild brought this website up-to-date with a polished, professional, and cheery look that is true-to-brand. An e-commerce shopping cart allows customers to buy seamlessly online. Their CMS (content management system) allows Red Velvet Mama and staff to make changes to the site on their own. This is vital to their business as their offerings differ every day. Customers are able to create an account and complete the ordering system as follows:

Choose Product Type (Cakes, Whoopie, etc.)

Choose Quantity

Choose Flavor

Check Out

…Simple & Sweet! Their shopping cart includes Inventory Control, so they can be alerted when the cake jars sell out and it is time to bake!

Customers can order on their mobile devices!

RedVelvetMama.com presents itself on any mobile device for easy ordering on-the-go; Busy professionals or parents can have their next staff or birthday party covered in a snap. It includes a blog that is tied to all Red Velvet Mama social media accounts, allowing them to share events or promotions, and accommodating their equally important mission of inspiring others to live their best lives.

It’s All About Chemistry

RedVelvetMama.com emulates Teresa’s devotion to the comfort of her customers through all things Red Velvet and daily servings of inspiration.

Using a highly analytical approach to engage our client’s audience, we Analyze, Advise, and Execute, turning client branding and all that it encompasses (web design, search engine rankings, etc.) into a results-driven science. Skip the experiments and give your prospects and clients the results they crave by contacting NicheLabs today.

]]>NicheLabs to Transform Non-Profit Community Center Website to Better Serve and Unite Its Membershttps://www.nichelabs.com/company_announcements/nichelabs-to-transform-non-profit-community-center-website-to-better-serve-and-unite-its-members/
Thu, 03 May 2018 21:22:43 +0000https://www.nichelabs.com/?p=2940The Branches Club, a non-profit, member/volunteer-managed facility catering to swimming and tennis enthused residents in 10 surrounding communities has tasked NicheLabs with the revamping of their online presence and member usability. NicheLabs will transform their lack-luster website and add the necessary functions to allow their community members to effortlessly interact with their site. The Branches.org […]

The Branches Club, a non-profit, member/volunteer-managed facility catering to swimming and tennis enthused residents in 10 surrounding communities has tasked NicheLabs with the revamping of their online presence and member usability. NicheLabs will transform their lack-luster website and add the necessary functions to allow their community members to effortlessly interact with their site.

The Branches.org Home Page

Located on six acres in the heart of The Branches community in Dunwoody, GA, The Branches Club offers various amenities to its members, young and old. Currently serving close to 400 members, the facility boasts a beautiful swimming pool, tennis courts, club house, and an outdoor two-level pavilion. Members enjoy organized social activities, tennis, and swimming (including a swim/dive team). The Branches Club regularly hosts social events including holiday-specific affairs like Easter-egg hunts, movie nights, pool parties for the adults, and play groups for the little ones, all surrounded by a beautiful wooded environment.

Members previously had to call or come into the club to find information on events, pay their dues, pay for social events, and reserve the clubhouse/courts/pool due to failing functionality of their site. Their website needs a quick and easy way to post meeting minutes, make reservations, plan future events and get-togethers, and connect its widespread community. TheBranches.org should portray the inviting, vibrant spirit that its members create each day whether it is accessed via desktop computer, tablet, or mobile phone.

A Social Calendar Should Look as Exciting as Its Events

NicheLabs will enhance the experience of The Branches Club members by allowing them to book all of their reservations easily online and even pay their membership dues securely with the click of a mouse or a button on their mobile device. A message board/forum will provide a way for members to interact and plan future events.

Our team has uncovered what it is that makes The Branches Community tick and will implement its solutions in order to attract new members and better serve existing members. Using a highly analytical approach to engage our client’s audience, we Analyze, Advise, and Execute, turning client branding and all that it encompasses (web design, search engine rankings, etc.) into a results-driven science. Skip the experiments and give your prospects and clients the results they crave by contacting NicheLabs today.

]]>Updated Website Meets Dynamic New Needshttps://www.nichelabs.com/general/updated-website-meets-dynamic-new-needs/
Mon, 20 Feb 2017 20:16:27 +0000https://www.nichelabs.com/?p=2720 Because the world of human resources always changing, it made perfect sense for Excel Pay to update a four-year-old website and give it the capability to help clients meet their dynamic needs. By turning to NicheLabs to update a website we originally created for them, they used our knowledge of their business and the […]

Because the world of human resources always changing, it made perfect sense for Excel Pay to update a four-year-old website and give it the capability to help clients meet their dynamic needs. By turning to NicheLabs to update a website we originally created for them, they used our knowledge of their business and the latest website technology to help their clients effectively manage their most valuable resource – their employees.

To illustrate how current Excel Pay’s website is, it has an entire section of content devoted to the Affordable Care Act. Unless you’ve been sleeping in a cave for the past seven years, you know that it’s a highly controversial set of laws and regulations that are likely to undergo change. Regardless of anyone’s personal opinions, the human resources executives who form Excel’s client base need to have the most up-to-date info – facts, forms and unbiased guidance – to help them design and deploy their company’s HR policies.

The website has that information, and it’s easily found – and available to anyone with internet access – from the ACA Center tab on the home page. We worked with the company to set up drop-down menus that provide an overview, reporting requirements and forms, and downloadable Excel Pay-branded documents to help clients and employees solve issues more effectively. Government forms and branded guides and help documents are also available from a home-page tab.

This is just one facet of the information-access requirements that Excel Pay had, and we met them with navigation and content systems that let them expand a process they already had. Our earlier website had a content management system, but that site architecture did not give them the ability to build libraries of information by adding new pages and linking them to the current menus. Where the old website had limits on words and images per page, new technology removes those limits and makes it easier to add all the words, images and links need to convey the information.

Visitors to the website can get to the nitty-gritty HR management tools from the Solutions tab at the top of all pages or from the graphic navigation. The icons for each of the solutions show up prominently when viewed on a desktop or in responsive mode from a mobile device. Responsive websites are critical because more people are using mobile devices in and out of the office. In this case, HR managers or staff members and employees can access the same information from anywhere the internet is accessible.

At individual solutions pages, visitors can find an overview for each solution and then links to more specific on-site information – and links to branded PDF files that can be downloaded and shared. If a visitor needs to access information about more than one solution, complete information on the solution and its components are located in a navigation area on the left side of the screen for desktop and laptop computers. In responsive mode, the solutions menu is at the bottom of the screen.

In addition to information, the site has a Logins tab that takes clients to the functional areas where they can manage payroll and time-keeping applications and records and where employees can manage some of their personal records.

No matter how you look at it, the design and function fulfills Excel Pay’s tagline: Our goal – to bring it all together for you!

Building on a successful relationship can help you bring it all together, too. We can update your current design, add functionality and improve your SEO and SEM by showing you where newer, more powerful internet marketing tools can build on your present foundation. Call us at 888-978-9254, or send us an email using our website contact form. An updated website, news coverage, advertising and a granular SEO program can help expand your universe. We love to talk about marketing, best practices for SEO programs, brand messaging and content strategy.

]]>King Abdullah Fellowship Program Turns to NicheLabs for Mission Supporthttps://www.nichelabs.com/general/king-abdullah-fellowship-program-turns-nichelabs-mission-support/
Fri, 27 Jan 2017 01:35:59 +0000https://www.nichelabs.com/?p=2681The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has made significant efforts to strengthen its healthcare infrastructure to combat chronic and infectious diseases through the King Abdullah Fellowship Program (KAFP) at the Rollins School of Public Health. But when KAFP needed to strengthen their website to strengthen their public health capacity in Saudi Arabia, they turned to […]

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has made significant efforts to strengthen its healthcare infrastructure to combat chronic and infectious diseases through the King Abdullah Fellowship Program (KAFP) at the Rollins School of Public Health. But when KAFP needed to strengthen their website to strengthen their public health capacity in Saudi Arabia, they turned to NicheLabs for a redesign and improved organization and navigation. They saw this as a critical move to support their mission of engagement in collaborative research activities and the promotion of a bilateral exchange of students and researchers.

King Abdullah Fellows engage in collaborative research as a part of their program and graduate from Rollins having produced publishable work on public health topics such as diabetes, tobacco, hepatitis, vaccine- preventable diseases, and tuberculosis in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, Rollins faculty develops collaborative research and spends extended lengths of time in the kingdom to perform program assessments.

One such instance of collaborative research occurred in 2009, when an American Emory MPH student spent her summer in Riyadh working on a tuberculosis research project. Her manuscript was published in the Annals of Epidemiology. Another instance of collaborative research took place in May 2011, when four American Emory MPH candidates traveled to Riyadh on a Global Field Experience (GFE) to work on diabetes and smoking control, antimicrobial resistance, and hepatitis projects, in collaboration with Saudi counterparts.

All of that work needs to be documented and easily found in searches on the website. Equally important, the website serves a role in marketing the fellowship program and its ties to Rollins and Atlanta to encourage the best and brightest in Saudi Arabia’s public health community to apply for the program.

That’s where they turned to NicheLabs. We redesigned the website to create a fresher, easier to navigate experience that provided complete information about the program, access to all the published work and access to all the documentation required for students to enroll in Rollins and come to Atlanta.

To make sure the site remains effective, the staff at Rollins needed the ability to update all the content quickly and easily.

NicheLabs responded with a site that’s both comprehensive in the information that Rollins officials wanted and easily used with typefaces and type sizes that can be easily read by people who speak English as a second language. All links are also accessible through graphical icons. All research papers can be easily accessed, and the site has pictures and videos that give prospective students a clear picture of what they can expect when they come to Atlanta. The website also makes full use of social media, which have worldwide acceptance among the candidates the fellowship program wants to attract.

No matter what information you need to deliver, the King Abdullah Fellowship Program website shows how good design and navigation can deliver visitors to the information they need to make solid decisions on using your products or services. If you’d like to have a stronger visible presence, we invite you to contact us at 888-978-9254, or by sending us an email using our website contact form. We can also help expand your universe with news coverage and validate your customers’ context with your website, SEO program or other marketing activities. We love to talk about marketing, best practices for SEO programs, brand messaging and content strategy.

]]>Target Your Email Campaignshttps://www.nichelabs.com/general/target-email-campaigns/
Tue, 25 Oct 2016 23:05:13 +0000https://www.nichelabs.com/?p=2541There’s hardly a business that doesn’t see email as a key component in its marketing strategy. But “open rates” can be less than expected when you don’t hit the right target at the right time. But sometimes, the emails just fly out there, and you really have no way to know if you hit the […]

There’s hardly a business that doesn’t see email as a key component in its marketing strategy. But “open rates” can be less than expected when you don’t hit the right target at the right time. But sometimes, the emails just fly out there, and you really have no way to know if you hit the right person with the message at the best time to initiate purchase-type action.

Getting a little more granular could help you deliver your message at the most effective time. You can start by categorizing your customers and prospects and then listing what information might be most useful for them in making a purchasing decision.

You might want to start your fact-finding by having your customers fill out a questionnaire. You can design your own or take your pick of several online survey providers. Whichever way you choose to go, keep it quick and simple. Your customers should want to give you some input in how you can help them increase their business.

Here are some sample questions:

What are your key issues? You likely know most of them, but if you ask them to list their top 3 or top five, you can pin down areas where you can help them more.

Who are the key industry thought leaders you follow for advice? You can learn two things here: 1) You can see who influences some of their decision-making, and 2) you can find additional sources of information to help you provide more proactive solutions.

How often do you want to be contacted? Everyone has a different need, but this could help you find a happy medium for satisfying your customers.

When do you want to be contacted? There is an abundance of research on the best days and times for general or specific industries, and it’s a subject worthy of its own discussion. Your schedule will come down to this question: When are your customers most likely to be thinking about my products or services?

It takes some effort on your part, but your customers and clients will have another reason to view you as a trusted business partner who knows their business and the needs of their customers and clients.

Once you have this information, you can set up a profile for each of your customers, and you can use that profile to tailor the email content. You might determine that your customers fall into three different categories, and you can then segment your emailing lists to fit those categories.

Then, you should develop your own process of gathering the news and information that would be most useful to your customers and your relationship with them and send out the email. This is where you can make that personal difference. You can make them feel you are looking out for them and their business and that you are offering solutions that can help them be proactive.

The key is to focus on quality. As we often discuss, search engines are looking much more closely at the relevancy and accuracy of your website and anything you post on it. They have algorithms to pin down the data, and the data can determine your page rankings on SEO.

But there’s another reason to focus on quality. Everyone is trying to do too many things in too little time. When you earn a reputation for delivering the right information at the right, you’ll be viewed as an asset, and that will get your email opened at a higher rate.

At NicheLabs, we can help you design and launch an email marketing plan – and make sure it integrates with your other digital marketing tools. Contact us at 888-978-9254, or by sending us an email using our website contact form. We can also help expand your universe with news coverage and validate your customers’ context with your website, SEO program or other marketing activities. We love to talk about marketing, best practices for SEO programs, brand messaging and content strategy.

]]>Form and Function for a New Venturehttps://www.nichelabs.com/general/form-function-new-venture/
Wed, 19 Oct 2016 22:14:01 +0000https://www.nichelabs.com/?p=2533When it comes to offering financial products and services for alternate investments, the challenge is two-fold. The website needs to have a look and feel of elegance and a solid foundation of success – and visitors need to be able be able to find all the information they need about the products and services, as […]

When it comes to offering financial products and services for alternate investments, the challenge is two-fold. The website needs to have a look and feel of elegance and a solid foundation of success – and visitors need to be able be able to find all the information they need about the products and services, as well as all the underlying legal information, to help them understand tax implications and financial risk.

NicheLabs helped Fortitude Investments meet those challenges when the firm needed a new website, 1031dst.com, to highlight investments for clients wishing to take advantage of 1031 exchanges. Based on Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Service code, these investments allow investors to defer capital gains taxes from the sale of commercial real estate by investing in new properties of equal or greater value.

To provide investors and potential investors with the most accurate information, NicheLabs provided a design that emphasized a clean, open look that lent itself to headlines and clear navigation to content and links. The site also required a major editorial effort to make sure all the information clearly explains what kinds of investments can be part of 1031 exchanges or other types of alternate investments. Because many investments carry high risks, the nature of each risk and all the tax rules and ramification had to be explained as educational material. And all of that had to comply with rules from the SEC – Securities and Exchange Commission – that govern what information can presented and how it must be presented.

With so much information related to tax law and the language of rulings in various jurisdictions, the content contains numerous links. All of the links needed to be checked to ensure they were valid. In addition, information about all of the firm’s principals had to include access to each of their pages on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s website, also requiring editorial and website development attention to detail.

Those needs are common to websites in this industry. Fortitude wanted to go above and beyond with a content management system would enable its owners and managers to add, edit and delete property listings. The property listings needed to include pictures, property descriptions and photographs along with other information, all designed to generate a phone call from an interested investor. Because the information comes from various sources, NicheLabs created a program that enables Fortitude’s personnel to upload pictures and copy – words and dollar amounts – from the sources that offer the real estate for sale, and the site needed to display uniformly on all browsers and on all computers, tablets and mobile phones.

Because the property listings are one of the website’s most valuable assets, access is restricted to investors who register to view them. NicheLabs worked with Fortitude to design a questionnaire that helps the firm qualify visitors as accredited investors. In addition to gathering basic contact information, the questionnaire has some questions about the property a prospective investor is selling and about what type of investment they are considering for the replacement or exchange property. With that information, the advisor who responds to the inquiry can better prepare for a phone call with the client or prospect. Telephone contact is a key driver because the firm wants to engage investors in conversation to provide the best possible options based on investor’s goals and tax status.

NicheLabs further helped Fortitude by setting up a blog under the Knowledge tab. It enables the firm’s principals to post their own writing or reprint articles from news outlets to make sure clients and prospects have the information needed to help make better financial decisions.

No matter how big and complex your business may be, Fortitude’s 1031dst.com website shows how good design and navigation can deliver visitors to the information they need to make solid decisions on using your products or services. If you’d like to have a stronger visible presence, we invite you to contact us at 888-978-9254, or by sending us an email using our website contact form. We can also help expand your universe with news coverage and validate your customers’ context with your website, SEO program or other marketing activities. We love to talk about marketing, best practices for SEO programs, brand messaging and content strategy.

]]>Penguins, Pandas and Google SEO Animalshttps://www.nichelabs.com/general/penguins-pandas-google-seo-animals/
Wed, 12 Oct 2016 21:55:51 +0000https://www.nichelabs.com/?p=2530If one thing’s for certain with Google, it’s that the search engine driver is always changing its algorithms to stay ahead of websites that try to game its ranking system. These days, the algorithms – let’s just call them formulas for now – go by names like Penguin and Panda, but holy page rankings, they […]

If one thing’s for certain with Google, it’s that the search engine driver is always changing its algorithms to stay ahead of websites that try to game its ranking system. These days, the algorithms – let’s just call them formulas for now – go by names like Penguin and Panda, but holy page rankings, they all come down to the quality and accuracy of your content and links.

If you’re into car-computer analogies, you really don’t want to know about all the little details about the systems that make your car run. You just want to know it will get you to your destination reliably. Same thing with your SEO – search engine optimization. Your big concern is getting qualified prospects to visit your site so that you can convert them to sales. And, just as you rely on your mechanic to keep your running in top condition, you should rely on SEO experts to cut through the clutter and help you position your pages to work their magic.

So, what’s behind the math? In a word, truth. Along with the latest versions of the Penguin and Panda algorithms, which have been around for a while, Google is making a concerted effort to raise truth to the first page of searches. It has deployed Claim Review, a fact-checking markup, that will be used to verify the facts in all content. Google will continue to use Panda, which does not run in real time, to measure the quality of the content on a page, and it will use Penguin, which runs in real time, to look at the sources of links on your site to see if they are spam – or spam-like.

First, truth. To determine the truth of content on a website, Google is going to scan websites to see if they follow widely accepted policies for checking facts. Various writers who cover Google and SEO on a regular basis note that the fact-checking move is motivated by social media, where a lot of faked stories get promoted, and inaccurate stories appearing on all channels. One writer characterized it as an assault on false, misleading, irrelevant and improper content.

Google will reportedly rely on fact-checking collectives to police themselves, and that’s raising concerns in some quarters. One of the concerns is that Google could be attempting to decide which articles or reporters are legitimate.

It’s worth noting that the first newspapers were started by printers, who had access to the means of communications in those days: the printing press. Later on, well into the middle of the 20th century, the high cost of printing and distributing newspapers was a barrier to entering the field. The Internet changed that. Practically anyone can get on the ‘Net and promote his or her own point of view without any formal filters – such as an editorial staff of a newspaper, magazine or TV or radio station. Anyone with access to the Internet is the same as the printer who had access to a press.

That’s the world we live in and in which Google is unleashing its Penguins and Pandas.

Panda’s effect on page rankings has more to do with visibility, and the freshness of your content is a big driver in getting better rankings. Looking at Panda in one way, user intent may play a role. Some of the SEO pundits believe that fewer pages with more content may help you get better numbers from the Panda algorithms.

But this is also where art and science could conflict. You need to look at how you want visitors to your site to absorb the information you present. Do you want them to, in effect, see headlines and summaries? Or, do you want them to see a narrative that brings together several related ideas that are designed to motivate an action?

Moving to real time, the latest version of Penguin, 4.0, could refresh page rankings shortly or immediately after a search-engine re-crawl or re-indexing. Again, Penguin looks closely at spam, and it will rank each page individually, based on the sources of the links on that page.

What does that mean for you? It means you must play closer attention than ever to your content. Any articles that you write or repost must be clearly true and relevant to your website – and your business. We emphasize clarity as well as truth because truth is being determined by a mathematical formula that may not pick up the nuances of the words you use. It also means you need to pay close attention to the websites you associate with. They, too, must pass the mathematical test.

At NicheLabs, we can help you with the art and science of your digital marketing. We can help you with the writing and design of your website and provide a second set of eyes on the content you want to repost and the links you want to include on your pages. And, we can take the deep dive into the science – the algorithms – Google uses to help the numbers add up to higher rankings. Contact us at 888-978-9254, or by sending us an email using our website contact form. We can also help expand your universe with news coverage and validate your customers’ context with your website, SEO program or other marketing activities. We love to talk about marketing, best practices for SEO programs, brand messaging and content strategy.

]]>Our 10 Years in Businesshttps://www.nichelabs.com/general/10-years-business/
Wed, 05 Oct 2016 21:32:24 +0000https://www.nichelabs.com/?p=2527NicheLabs is 10 years old this month! As with any 10-year-old, it’s a time to celebrate, and it’s a time to look at a long, wide-open future. First, let’s celebrate our accomplishments. We have served nearly 1,000 clients of all sizes in diverse markets in our 10 years. Their websites are our most visible work, […]

NicheLabs is 10 years old this month! As with any 10-year-old, it’s a time to celebrate, and it’s a time to look at a long, wide-open future.

First, let’s celebrate our accomplishments.

We have served nearly 1,000 clients of all sizes in diverse markets in our 10 years. Their websites are our most visible work, but we have provided the behind-the-scenes tools that lead to the growth of businesses, especially the technology tools, which continue to open more opportunities for businesses of all sizes by allowing them to better identify targets and deploy tightly focused marketing programs to convert qualified prospects into buyers.

Those tools include SEO – search engine optimization – programs that help clients choose the best possible keywords in their website content to match the needs of people searching for information, and PPC – pay per click – programs that use the same programs for search engine advertising platforms. Together, they can work with social media, email and content marketing programs to help any business get in front of the most interested prospects anywhere in the world.

We have always had a strong sense of entrepreneurialism, combined with a team of people who bring a diverse set of creative and technical expertise to our clients. Technology by itself is a tool that sits on the shelf. Technology becomes a powerful tool only when put in the hands of skilled professionals who understand how a business needs to craft a strategy and build the visual and verbal message to carry it out.

Developing and strengthening that team over our 10 years is one of our key accomplishments, and it was one of my early goals in establishing NicheLabs. Before establishing NicheLabs, I was fortunate enough to build the “Best Portfolio” in 1998 while majoring in multimedia and computer animation at the Art Institute of Atlanta. I parlayed that into a job as a full-time production artist with a securities software development firm. Soon after, I was tasked with building a marketing department, which was spun off as a separate subsidiary.

As a corporate executive, I grew to appreciate the benefits we give our clients by having a team of people who enjoy working together with a shared vision of giving our customers better service. That goes beyond just responding to phone calls and emails. It encompasses leadership by taking the initiative to recommend marketing strategies and tactics that are tied to each client’s business goals.

Our people have helped NicheLabs’ clients extend their reach by combining proven communications vehicles such as advertising, public relations, newsletters and brochures with rapidly evolving technologies for software and hardware. Multiple marketing channels enable our clients to get their targeted messages to more prospective buyers using devices – computers, smartphones, tablets and even TV – that the prospects are most comfortable with for seeing and responding to them.

In bottom-line terms, we have developed the ability to help our clients convert targeted traffic to real dollars.

Our accomplishments and the education on which they’re built provide us and our clients with a solid foundation to go forward. We see three major impactors on your growth and ours as we move forward. We both use them now, and we will evolve with them to build more efficient marketing processes.

The first impactor is Google. It is the most dominant search engine in the world, and as it continuously evolves, it sets the standards for all search engine activity. We can address many specifics about what we can do together to work more effectively with Google’s ever-changing search algorithms, quality standards and suggested marketing tactics. While some people groan every time Google makes a change in its operations, we see those changes as ways to help our clients better define their targets and refine their messaging to reach them. That’s where our people will help you strategize to meet your business goals.

The second impactor is mobility. Your prospects and ours are no longer tied to a desk when using the Internet to research products and services and make buying decisions. More searches are now done on tablets and smartphones, and that makes it necessary for all businesses to have responsive websites that can work with a mobile device. Responsive websites are programmed to work with Apple and Android operating systems for tablets and phones. They adjust the content for easier reading and navigation, and they make it easier – if not possible – for people to transact business. Many consumers use mobile devices to make purchases or reservations, connect by telephone with a tap to talk to a business or to pop up a map and get directions that use apps such as Google Maps or Waze.

In addition, responsive websites get higher search rankings from Google and other search engines. With a responsive website, you can take advantage of Google + to expand your ways of communicating with customers and prospects – and improve your search rankings.

But wait, as they say. There’s more. Newer capabilities will help create new marketing channels as they become more refined and gain more users.

Right here in Atlanta, for example, the Braves and Falcons and their technology partners are going to use mobile applications to let fans make more extensive use of their devices. Those uses can range from ordering food and drinks to using subscription services to get additional information and watch videos of the game they’re attending or games in other cities.

Sales reps are using more Internet-based mobile applications to check inventories when selling to their customers or helping with other customer-service needs. Even within manufacturing facilities, more and more enterprise systems are going wireless, using combinations of phones or tablets tied to Wi-Fi and cellular networks to control their production and accounting processes at the same time.

All of this mobility will work its way into new marketing capabilities for businesses of all sizes.

The third impactor is social media. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are known by just about every person in the world who has access to the Internet, and each medium has been used effectively to market products and services. People form online communities to share their likes and dislikes through Facebook and Twitter, for example, the ability to share YouTube videos drives highly creative video content that people love to share – many times on mobile devices. (Note the connection with the previous impactor.) Instagram and Google + are two more social media that allow marketers and their fans to post and share content, and it’s likely that more social media platforms will be hitting a screen near your prospects very, very soon.

Ratings websites are another category of social media. Not only do they grow in number, they also affect your Google search rankings (see the first impactor). Good reviews get you more click-throughs to your site, building traffic that you can convert to sales. And, of course, more click-throughs can raise your search rankings and make PPC campaigns more effective.

As much as my team and I have enjoyed the first 10 years of NicheLabs, we look forward to combining our experiences with future developments – whatever they may be – to grow and serve you over the next years. As happy as we are to reach this milestone, we are excited about the future.

If you’d like to join us in our marketing journey, we invite you to contact us at 888-978-9254, or by sending us an email using our website contact form. We can also help expand your universe with news coverage and validate your customers’ context with your website, SEO program or other marketing activities. We love to talk about marketing, best practices for SEO programs, brand messaging and content strategy.